No. 3 seed Tennessee soccer begins its SEC tournament title defense Tuesday afternoon when it takes on No. 6 seed Georgia in the quarterfinals.
The Lady Vols claimed their third consecutive SEC East title last Thursday night after closing out the regular season with a 2-0 win over Vanderbilt. Prior to the game, it was thought that Tennessee would be required to beat Vanderbilt and hope South Carolina would drop points against Missouri in order for Joe Kirt’s side to win the division.
However, there was discovery of two conflicting documents produced by the SEC surrounding the way teams would be split if tied on the same amount of points. It was determined that Tennessee and South Carolina would be co-champions of the SEC East and South Carolina would be the No. 2 seed going into the tournament.
The Lady Vols had a successful SEC regular season and were undefeated away from home. They only dropped points to Alabama, South Carolina and LSU. The Lady Vols went on a great stretch of six games where the team went undefeated and won four straight games, including a 2-0 win over Georgia in Athens. Two quick-fire goals from Claudia Dipasupil and Jaida Thomas sealed the win for Tennessee, which was its first in Athens since 2016.
The pre-season favorites will be hoping to live up to the expectations set on them and bring home the program’s second consecutive SEC tournament title to Knoxville. Tennessee will be relying on four key Lady Vols who received SEC honors earlier this week. Lawson Renie was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season after contributing a goal and a clean sheet against Vanderbilt Sunday night.
Taylor Huff and Thomas were named in the All-SEC First Team following a dominant season by the pair. Thomas was the co-golden boot winner and finished with 12 goals on the season. Huff, who has been pulling the strings in the heart of midfield for the Lady Vols throughout the season, finished with five goals and seven assists. Mackenzie George was also named in the All-SEC Second Team in back-to-back years after her contribution of four goals and six assists.
Georgia’s run to the tournament is on the back of its current four-game undefeated run consisting of three straight wins against Missouri, Ole Miss and Kentucky before drawing to Mississippi State on the final day.
First-year head coach Keidane McAlpine did not waste time taking Georgia back to the SEC tournament for the fourth consecutive year. McAlpine moved to Georgia from USC at the start of the season after the Bulldogs announced that they would not be renewing seven-year head coach Billy Lesesne’s contract after it expired earlier this year.
Georgia has failed to make it past the quarterfinals 14 out of the last 20 attempts, with the Bulldogs getting knocked out of last year’s tournament in the first round after losing to LSU on penalties 5-4. Georgia is still searching for its first SEC tournament title after falling at the last hurdle in 2000, 2007 and 2008.
The two sides have only met in the SEC tournament twice. The Lady Vols won both times, which included beating Georgia in the final in 2008. Tennessee won both encounters by a single goal and will be looking for a repeat on Tuesday.
The quarterfinal matchup will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex in Pensacola, Florida, and can be watched on SEC Network.
